Famous American Research

My students just completed research on American heroes. In addition to books, students used their iPads to do the research, mainly on World Book Online, BrainPop Jr., and Reading A-Z books in their iBooks library. To teach others about they learned, each student created a Keynote presentation on their iPad. I am impressed with how smoothly this went on the iPad. The Keynote app is very kid-friendly and easy to use. We also tried out a new app I learned about at METC called Chatterpix Kids. Kids imported a picture of their famous American, drew a mouth, and the recorded themselves telling a few important facts about the person. They were a lot of fun to create and to watch. Students could even embed the Chatterpix video into their Keynote. They iPad made this entire process, smooth, flexible, and very engaging.

Engineering Challenge

This year our district science fair will be called STEM Fest, and it will feature projects in science, math, technology and engineering. As part of an initiative to get more students interested in engineering, our district STEM facilitator is encouraging each classroom to take part in an engineering challenge. The second grade challenge is called Puff Cars, and we completed this challenge last Friday.

First of all, we began by reading a picture book called Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty. She is one of my new favorite authors. I love this book! It is about a little girl named Rosie who always wants to create and build things, but her uncle laughs at her invention and she decides not to create anymore. Then her great, great aunt Rose (who is based on Rosie the Riveter) convinces her that her inventions are not supposed to work the first time, and she gives it another go.

The students loved this text and the creative illustrations by David Roberts. After we read it, we had a great discussion about what it means to be an engineer, as well as how engineers and makers don't usually get it right the first time, and have to keep redesigning to make things work just right. We also had a little history lesson about Rosie the Riveter and girl power during World War 2.  (This author and illustrator also created Iggy Peck, Architect, which is equally fabulous.)

Then we dove into our task. The goal was to make a car that would move by blowing air across it. Students worked in groups of 4-5, and got these supplies:

• 4 Lifesavers
• 3 non-bendable drinking straws
• 2 paperclips
• 1 piece of paper
• scissors
• tape

Groups first discussed and drew out their plans, and then they let me know when they were ready for their supplies. It was very exciting to hear their conversations and see how different groups approached this task. Students made cars, tested them out, redesigned them, and tested them again.  One student in each group served as a photographer, using their iPad to take pictures and video of their progress.

All of this creative engineering took a long time- much longer than I had anticipated. That was OK though, as you just can't rush the creative process. Finally, every group had a puff car they were happy with. We tested to see how far each car could go. Each group selected its best blower, and we measured the distance of each car. All of the cars did great, but the Blazer car (by the red table) went the farthest. It will be the car that we will display at STEM Fest, although we will include pictures of all of the cars.

Trying to make a drawing a reality.

A test drive

Here are the five puff cars designed by the Bartin Bunch:

This was an excellent activity. All of the students were engaged and doing great thinking. We all agreed that we would like to participate in more engineering activities in the future. 

Class Meeting

It has been awhile since I have blogged, but it is one of my new year's resolutions to do better.

Today we had a very productive class meeting. It is also one of my resolutions to have more class meetings. They are a great way to problem solve and build community in our classroom. We have a protocol that we follow, which I learned from Mike Holdinghaus (our former social studies facilitator) years ago. This is our procedure and our expectations:

We first make a list of all of the things we have done and learned this week. Then we go through and use a code with dots to mark the things that we liked, the things that help us learn the most, and the things that could have gone better. Here is our list from this (short) week:

We decided to problem solve around indoor recess, especially since we will probably have more indoor recess in the coming weeks. We discussed the biggest concerns (voice level, sharing and cleaning up, and iPad use), and then the students came up with this list of expectations. They wanted them posted in the classroom for everyone to see.

Our teacher assistants and the students reported that indoor recess went amazingly well today. I love when students are involved in decision making in the classroom.

Composting Projects

Our second grade students have been learning all about earth science for the past month or so. We have learned a lot about soil, rocks, decomposers, and natural resources. As part of this science unit, students learned a lot about composting. Keysor already has a great composting program in the cafeteria (thanks to last year's second-grade leaders). This year we gave our students the job to teach a group who doesn't know about composting. They could choose younger students (mainly kindergartners, since they have not been composting in the cafeteria yet), parents, or the Kirkwood community. They had to then create a project to teach this group something about composting.

We gave students a list of possible products, such as posters, brochures, a learning activity, a books, etc, and we also told them they could come up with their own ideas. Because our class has iPads, students had many choices in how to create a project.  Many kids chose to use their iPads to do some more research on composting, while others created something using their iPads. Some kids chose not to use their iPads at all.

Several groups of students chose to create books about composting. One group created their book completely in Notability- the text and illustrations. One students typed her text on her iPad, but then she printed it to draw the illustrations by hand. Another group created their book completely by hand on paper, but they used a dictionary app to help them edit their spelling. Even though they all chose different ways to create their books, through the technique of scanning, we were able to share all of their books with their classmates through iBooks. Every student in the class could have their own copy of the book, without having to print them. The student authors were very excited to share their books digitally (as was I for figuring this out).

I am very impressed with their final products. Here are some of them:

Our First Days of iPad Learning

Last week, we got our iPad Minis. We are the only second grade class at Keysor with iPads, because I am on the district's Technology Leadership Group (TLG). We are going to learn how to use the iPads in our classroom, and share the information with other teachers and students in the district.

Of course, my students have been very excited to get their iPads and get started using them. On the first day, we learned how to use some basic features and took a picture of ourselves to set as the background. We also went over all of the expectations and talked about the importance of being technology leaders. Students signed the iPad agreement, which their parents have or will also sign.

Since all of that went very well, I decided to be brave, and we ventured outside with our iPads on a natural resources scavenger hunt. Normally, we would have done this with clipboards and paper, but I thought that taking pictures might be even better. The students were very responsible, and they all did a great job taking pictures of evidence of natural resources in our school yard.

The following day, we used an app called Notability. First we went through a quick totorial, demonstrating all of the great things this app can do. I think it is a great app for second graders. They then import pictures, type, annotate, and record their voice in this app.  Then we uploaded the pictures we took the day before to make a natural resources collage. Students could move photos around to group them in different ways, and they could choose to type or write to label their pictures.

The biggest excitement came when I showed them the Airplay button on the iPad. Students got to take turns mirroring their collage onto the ActivBoard (using Apple TV). This got everyone very interested, and everyone wanted to do their best work.

It's going to be a wonderful learning adventure with our iPads this year!

Airplay! One student displays her natural resources collage and explains it to the class.

Helping each other as we install our first apps

Choosing "Just-Right" Books

Our main focus in reading workshop so far has been choosing books that are "just right." Last week we had a lesson in which we compared shoes to books. I brought in several different kinds of shoes, and we talked about the purpose of each. Students discussed that each type of shoe has a purpose, and it wouldn't work well to wear hiking shoes to a fancy occasion or to wear flip flops to go running.

In addition, we talked about shoes fitting just right. When I wore Mr. Bartin's shoe around the classroom, it was too big and floppy, and I almost fell. When I tried to put on a shoe that belongs to my four-year-old daughter, I couldn't even get it on my foot. Shoes that don't fit right are uncomfortable, unsafe, and can really ruin your day.

Books are the same way. We have to think about our purpose for reading. Do I just want to pick a book that I will enjoy, or am I trying to learn something specific?

Is the book the right fit? If I don't know the words, or I can't understand what I am reading, it's not a good fit. At the same time, if the book is too easy, it's not going to help me become a better reader.

To help us remember how to choose good books, we use a method called IPICK. This is what it stands for:

I choose a book.
Purpose (Why do I want to read it?)
Interest (Does it interest me?)
Comprehend (Do I understand it?)
Know (Do I know most of the words?)

Just as we go to the store or our closet to choose the "just-right" shoes, we have to think about choosing the best books for us. I am sure that soon our students will be excellent book choosers for themselves!

1, 2, 3 Transitions

Transitioning from one activity or setting to another can be challenging in a classroom. A lot of time can be wasted if transitions are not quick and smooth. Several years ago, I learned about the 1, 2, 3 transition model from the book Teach Like a Champion. It has been one of the best tricks I have learned in my 12 years of teaching.

Here is how it works in our classroom:
1- All students stand by their chair.
2- All students push in their chairs (quietly).
3- Everyone walks quietly to the carpet (or line).

One of the secrets to this technique is that everyone must do each step before we move on to the next one. Also, it must be quiet. Students learned this quickly on day one, and we already have it mastered. It saves us so much time each day!

Here is the 1,2,3 transition in action:

Our first two days

We have had two days of school so far, and I am already loving our new class. How am I so lucky to keep getting such great students?

In our first two days, we have learned a lot about each other and our classroom routines and expectations. We have learned about being bucketfillers and today we participated in the Passport to Pride, learning all about the expectations in our outdoor learning spaces. Our students have worked hard, participated fully, and challenged themselves.

I am looking forward to another great year with an amazing group of 21 students.

Butterfly Release

Our first butterfly emerged from its chrysalis on Friday. It was cold on Friday, so I didn't want to release it them. I figured the rest would emerge soon, so I took them home for the weekend. My own two children had a great time "babysitting" them over the weekend, and watching them emerge. By Sunday night, all five butterflies were out of their chrysalises.

On Monday morning we released the butterflies in Keysor's bird garden. The students got very excited each time one flew away. This was a great way to learn about life cycles.

iPads on a Field Trip?

This week we had an experiment as we took our iPads off campus for the first time. We took our Minis on a field trip to Litzsinger Road Ecology Center. I have to admit, this venture made me nervous, as I even had a dream about an iPad falling into the creek.

Before the field trip, I sent students several documents through Edmodo that I wanted them to have on the field trip. Normally, I would have printed these documents and given the students paper copies, but The Bartin Bunch is all about saving paper. One document was a form that all Keysor second graders used on this third trip to Litzsinger (the other classes used paper) to document our learning about life cycles. The other was a butterfly identification chart, which was four pages long. Knowing that we would not have internet access on the field trip, I made sure that all students had the documents ready to go in Notability before we left school, and we went over the expectations.

In addition to using these two documents, we talked ahead of time about taking pictures of what we saw on the field trip. I encouraged the students to use the camera to document what they saw, but we also talked about not letting that distract from listening to their volunteer or staying with their group.

When we got off of the bus, I could tell that some volunteers were surprised, and perhaps uncomfortable, with the students having iPads. I am sure this was new for them. We found that the volunteers definitely handled the iPads in different ways. One volunteer was worried about them, so she collected them from her group, and they didn't have many pictures or notes. Other groups took full advantage of their iPads, taking pictures and videos, making notes in Notabillity, etc.

Eddie recorded bird sounds that he heard.

Alexis got a close-up shot of an interesting plant.

Kira took a picture of tadpoles that her group found.

Marin and Sydney organized their notes when we met back together at the end of the trip.

When we came back together at the end of the field trip, I told students to take a few minutes to complete the life cycle observation sheet in Notability. This sheet involved an illustration of a life cycle they observed, along with some writing about it. I found it very interesting how kids chose to complete the assignment. Some students imported pictures they had taken, while others chose to draw their observations. Some students typed their ideas, while others annotated by hand.

When we got back to school, I gave the students time to work on their notes and assignments. Students finished their life cycle observations, and several kids mirrored their page to the projector (did I mention we now have an Apple TV?) to share them. Then everyone uploaded their assignment and sent it to the class through Edmodo.

We also looked at the butterfly identification chart. Some groups had seen a lot of butterflies, and students found their own ways to record this data. Some students made tally marks on the note to keep track of how many butterflies they had seen of each type, while others circled pictures and wrote notes about what they noticed.

Finally, each student used the pictures they took to create a Pic Collage. I often do this after a field trip to share with the class, and they loved creating their own collage of the field trip. A few students didn't have many pictures, but other students were able to share their pictures through the Dropbox.

Overall, I think the experience was a positive one.  I love that students used their iPads to document what was most important to them- some students recorded bird sounds, others took pictures of insects. I also love that the iPads did not keep students from interacting with nature. Kids still waded in the creek (with the iPads sitting safely on the shore) and picked up caterpillars and rocks. In the future, I would want to communicate better with the volunteers to make sure they understand the expectations. I think I would also give students a choice to bring an iPad or use paper and pencil.

All students and iPads were intact and accounted for at the end of the trip, so I would say the experiment was a success.

iPad Scout- Week 5

Last week saw fewer new activities with the iPads, but we are again getting better and more confident with what we are doing.

Here are a few highlights from our week:

- Printing: Mrs. Handley got us set up to print directly from the iPad Minis. This is huge, as it took a lot of steps earlier to save things to the Dropbox, open on a computer, and then print. Since we are using the iPads more often as word processing devices, this is very handy. We have already printed poetry and letters to our fifth-grade buddies, and it went very smoothly.

- Music Class: This should have been in the week 4 update as well. Our students have brought their iPads to music class for the last two classes. They have been working with Mrs. St. Clair to learn to use GarageBand. This has been a huge hit so far.

- Research: As I talked about in my post on butterflies, we did our first mini research project, in which students worked together to find answers to their questions about butterflies. What I like best about this is that students did the research, typed their findings, inserted pictures, and printed it all directly from their iPads. This was great practice for some future work I hope to do.

Butterflies!

We have actually been doing things in our classroom other than use iPads, although that is pretty much all I have been blogging about lately. In second grade we study life cycles. What better way to learn about life cycles than to study butterflies. I have always had a fascination with butterflies, so when I found out I was going to teach second grade this year, I got pretty excited about a butterfly unit.

It started when we got caterpillars in the mail, about two weeks ago. This is the second shipment of critters we have received this year (see previous post about our worms). They are painted lady caterpillars, and we have watched them grow. They ate and ate in their little cup, until they got huge and turned into chrysalises at the end of last week. I was glad all of the changing happened before the weekend, as the students (and me) were very excited to see the changes happening.

Meanwhile, we have been learning all about Monarch migration. This is one of those topics that the more I learn, the more questions I have. We have read a lot of books, and we regularly check out the Journey North website, which is amazing and has weekly updates. Here is it http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/

After doing lots of learning, we had more questions, as well as things we wanted to share with other people. We decided to do a mini research project to teach others about Monarchs, with the goal to create a bulletin board. The students and I genereated questions, such as

• How can you tell male and female Monarchs apart?
• How long is a butterfly generation?
• What is the Monarch life cycle?
• Where do they go for the winter?
• and so on.

I partnered students up, and I created QR codes to websites I thought would be helpful to their research. They also used books we had in the classroom.

In less than an hour, most partners had done their research, typed up their finding on their iPads and inserted appropriate pictures, printed their work, and put it on the bulletin board. It looks pretty great, and the kids found some great information.

We have learned that the Monarch migration to Mexico saw the smallest number of Monarchs on record. Last summer's hot weather was not kind to the butterflies. We are trying to find ways in which we can help increase the Monarch numbers. One way is to plant milkweed, since that is the only food that Monarch caterpillars can eat. We hope to plant some at Keysor, and many students also said they want to ask their parents to plant some at home. We have been learning about geography and culture through the lens of the Monarch migration. It has been some truly engaging, cross-curricular learning.

In case you are wondering, our butterflies have not yet hatched from their chrysalises. We hope they will later this week or early next week (hopefully not over the weekend). Stay tuned for future updates on our butterflies. 

iPad Scout- Week 4

As we get more comfortable with the iPads in our classroom, the students are becoming so much more independent. Last week we did not do as many new things, but the ways in which we used the iPads helped us be much more efficient in our learning.

One thing I have been doing more of is using Edmodo to send students a document I want them to have. I can attach a PDF file to an Edmodo assignment, and students can download the file and open it in Notability. They can then annotate on top of the image. I have to thank Mr. Krena for showing me how to do this because it makes getting information to and from students much easier.

Because we are studying geography, I sent the students a blank world map. I put directions on the ActivBoard about labeling each continent with a specific number (1= Asia, 2= Pacific Ocean, etc.) Students completed the assignment, and then they saved the assignment in their Edmodo "backpack." They could then send the assignment back to me to be graded. It was a quick and easy assessment piece, and the students were much more engaged than if it had been on paper.

Another way we used the Edmodo to Notability feature was a reading self-assessment. I sent the students a rubric for reading fluency, which they downloaded. Students listened to their previous recording of themselves reading a poem aloud. They then scored themselves on the rubric. Here's the best part- not only did they circle their rubric score, they also recorded their voice as they explained why they gave themselves the score and discussed what they could work on for next time. Students then saved this note to their Dropbox, so I could listen to it later. (Unfortunately, it would not save the voice recording to upload this to Edmodo). I loved listening to their reasoning and giving them an opportunity to assess themselves. If I had done this aloud with students one-on-one (which is of course also very valuable), it would have taken up a lot of class time. This did take up more of my own time, but I love that I have the recoding to keep to document their thinking. I have to thank Jennifer Bearden from Robinson for giving me this idea. I love it and will definitely use it again.

This image hardly does justice to the great thinking that was in the recording they turned in.

All of these ideas are saving paper. In the past few weeks, I have made fewer copies than I have all year. For Earth Day, our class set a goal to have a paperless day. Except for our spelling list (which was already copied anyway), we did not use any paper. We were creative and found other ways to do things that didn't need paper. For example, we took our spelling pretest on the iPads using Notability. I would certainly not want to eliminate the use of paper and pencil in our classroom completely, but I do love that we are saving trees and money.

Another thing that I have noticed is that students are developing their own preferences. Some students prefer to type when we are working on problems or taking notes on the iPads, while others prefer writing with a stylus or their finger. Some have preferences as to which apps they use- like Notability over Pages to word process, or Educreations to work out a math problem, rather than Notability. Just like adults, they are finding ways to use technology that works best for them. Some students even independently organized their apps into folders because they didn't like that their iPad home screen looked "messy." These second graders are not only becoming more tech-savvy, they are also becoming independent thinkers and problem solvers.